"Violent behavior is a very complex thing," he said, "and when it happens, you want to say what the cause is. And it's not so simple."

Lindsay Cross, a Fort Wayne, Ind., woman who writes for the "Mommyish" blog, said it's important for parents to talk to children about games they are playing and movies they are watching.

"We always want there to be something to do to protect our kids," she said, and violent media is right there as a convenient scapegoat. "It makes us feel like we're doing something to help. It's a natural reaction."

At the same time, it's hard to overlook the millions of people who enjoy these games, shows and movies and don't turn into violent killers, she said.

For whatever concern that politicians and moral leaders show about violent media content, it's those millions of users and viewers who will ultimately decide whether gore stays on the menu, said Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication.

If fans lose interest, so will Hollywood, he said.

"Hollywood is exquisitely reactive to the marketplace," he said.

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Associated Press Movie Critic Christy Lemire in Los Angeles, Television Writer Frazier Moore in New York and writer Lou Kesten in Washington contributed to this report.